Solar Twin Ltd are a UK based company with almost 10 years of experience of installing solar water heating systems in the United Kingdom.
The Solartwin water heating system can be installed in a day by a two people – with a full system installed for under GBP 3,500, or available for DIY installation for under GBP 2,500.
Solartwin Solar Water Heating System
The key component of the Solartwin solar water heating system is the double glazed solar hot water panel (pictured above). This flat panel is 2.465 x 1.265 x 0.080 metres in size and weighs in at 33kg when full.
The small 5 Watt photovoltaic solar panel (pictured above) is used to provide power for the water pump. (A shunt resistor is used to reduce the solar panel output to 4 Watts giving a peak pumping rate of 0.7 litres per minute.)
The pump is a long-life brushless (i.e. permanent magnet) model which should have a zero-maintenance working life of at least 10 to 20 years. With the narrow 6mm microbore flexible pipes used in the Solartwin system, total pipe lengths of up to 30 metres can be achieved. Longer runs of pipe are possible if wider pipes are used, but more heat would be lost between the solar panel and the hot water tank.
Solartwin Features
The main advantage of the Solar Twin system is that water is pushed through the system by a low current water pump powered directly by a PV Solar Panel. When it is very sunny, the water is pumped quickly; when it is cloudy (and the water is heated more slowly) the water is pumped slowly; and when there is no sun, zero power is used. There is also no need for battery backup or a solar charge controller so the overall system is quite simple.
In addition, the numerous aluminium parts of the system are made from aluminium brought in from Norway where hydroelectricity is used extensively, therefore reducing the carbon footprint of this product.
More Information about Solar Twin
To find out more about Solartwin visit the official Solartwin website.
A 6 page Solartwin Brochure (PDF) is available as a free download, as is a 2 page Solartwin User’s Guide.
For very detailed information on installing the Solartwin system, take a look at the Solartwin Installation Instructions (37 page PDF). The information contained in this document is also likely to be very useful for anyone interested in putting together a DIY solar water heating system.
More Information about Solar Water Heating
Evacuated tube solar water heating is becoming more popular than the flat panel type solar collector used by Solar Twin because of its increased efficiency – click here to find out more.
It is perfectly possible for anyone with basic DIY skills to put together a basic solar water heating system from scratch thereby saving a lot of money. Here are some useful links to related articles on the REUK.co.uk website:
Introduction to solar water heating.
Simple solar water heating.
Build a concentrated solar water heater.
Solar water heating pump controller.
Thermosyphon solar water heating (no pump required).